Day 5 in Toronto for NXNE
Last night’s musical performances were everything I had hoped they would be. Early in the evening, at 8 PM, I went to hear a set by a little-known band called Amity Beach. They were a young five-piece from Grand Bend, Ontario, 18-year olds who play their own songs and some great covers. Afterward, at the merch table I met the dad of the lead singer, who told me of the band’s origins and how they’re writing and recording their own music. I enjoyed learning about their process.
From Rancho Relaxo on College Street, I used the Spadina Ave. streetcar to get back down to the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen St. West for the CBC Radio 3 showcase, where Yukon Blonde put on a tremendous, high-energy set in the 10 PM slot. Afterward, I took the streetcar and subway to Lee’s Palace on Bloor Street where Matt Mays played a tremendous 90-minute set with his band El Torpedo. He forged–even already had–a strong bond with his appreciative audience and the last four or five songs (“Tall Trees,” “City of Lakes, Cocaine Cowgirl, etc.) turned into exercises in mass-participation.
After Matt Mays, I cabbed back down to the Horseshoe Tavern, where I heard the end of the set by the stomping, hollering blues trio Catl. The evening ended there with a pleasant surprise–a really good set from a band I’d never heard of, Fast Romantics. As tired as the audience was they began at 1 AM, the crowd got pulled into it and all were won over to what amounted to a new discovery for those around me.
Publication of photos on this site will have to wait till I’m home, since as I’ve learned, adding photos to WordPress from the IPad is no simple trick. Still, I will put some up on Facebook to go along with this brief post.
Now, it’s Sunday morning and I’m heading off to the bluegrass brunch at the Dakota Tavern where a number of Radio 3 friends are meeting at 11 AM. Later, at 4 PM, Ohbijou will be playing as part of the Luminato Festival. This will be my last full day in Toronto, before heading back home to NYC Monday afternoon.
That wasn’t El Torpedo with Matt Mays!
Thanks for visiting my blog. Sorry but I don’t know what you mean about the Matt Mays show–who was that band Matt played with if not El Torpedo?
Matt Mays & El Torpedo dissolved as a band in the summer of 2009 (there’s an old myspace blog about it somewhere)… Jay Smith and Adam Baldwin were in El Torpedo and still play with Mays, but the other fellows – Serge Samson, Sergio (bass), and Damian (drums) are new and are as of yet an untitled backing band.
Henry, thanks for clarifying that. FWIW, all the NXNE literature calls them El Torpedo and said that’s who MM would be appearing with. They put on such a great show at Lee’s palace!
No problemo! That’s a bit strange on NXNE’s part but what can you expect when you fall off the face of the earth for almost 3 years like Matt Mays did. They killed it in Ottawa on Friday too – can’t wait for the new album.
Yes, MM has been a mystery man of late. I was really excited to see him re-emerging with these recent shows. Do you know there’s a new album due? I’d assume so, since they did so much new material at the start of Saturday night’s show, but I haven’t heard any concrete details.
Chatted with his parents after the show in Ottawa and they were hinting that an album was mostly finished and ready to drop around September, but who knows! Happy to see him taking steps toward it. The new tunes were great.
Thanks for explaining.